Centrosome competition: a possibility?
A recent theory on the evolution of sexuality, has hypothesized heritable variation in the functional properties of centrosomes, leading to competition for the organization of the mitotic spindle when different centrosomes enter a common cytoplasm. We present here data on polyethylene glycol-induced polykaryocytes of cultured Chinese hamster fibroblasts indirectly supporting centrosome competition. On the assumption that sib centrosomes are similar and variation increases with cell generations, the frequencies of multipolar mitoses were compared in cultures fused under conditions favoring sib cell fusion or fusion of distantly related cells. Multipolar mitoses were considerably more frequent in the former, when the average difference between pairs of centrosomes was assumed to be too small for one centrosome to "outcompete" the other.
Marin
G
G
Dipartimento di Biologia, Università di Padova, Italia.
Argenton
F
F
D000818:Animals; D002453:Cell Cycle; D002460:Cell Line; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002502:Centrioles / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008938:Mitosis; D015388:Organelles / Q000648:ultrastructure*